Ice maker with door mounted drive means



Sept. 6, 1966 E. E. PoHL., JR 3,270,519

ICE MAKER WITH DOOR MOUNTED DRIVE MEANS Filed Dec. 1, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Fig l Ernest E. Pohl, Jr.

BY y Va-'a H/'s Attorney Sept. 6, 1966 E. E. Pom., JR 3,270,519

ICE MAKER WITH DOOR MOUNTED DRIVE MEANS L l-L- TIII N lL INVENTOR. Ernes E. Pohl, Jl:

BY f g l/ .15mn-"Jb His Afforney Sept 6. 1966 E. E. PoHL, JR

ICE MAKER WITH DOOR MOUNTED DRIVE MEANS 4 Sheets--Sheerl 5 Filed Dec. l, 1964 w n bis \J1 a# .I T u O/l M/ VI .E0 e n I. r E 0 .l f if m @m r n .s m /nf U /M 4 Y/ B U /,Hv 4 .0.. l Hw f8 .H u 2 2 J 6 sept. 6, 1966 E. E. Pom., JR 3,270,519

ICE MAKER WITH DOOR MOUNTED DRIVE MEANS Filed Dec. l, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 60 Awfm j j T J k j W FI* @d e2 INVENTOR. Ernest E. Pohl, Jr.

His Aflorney United States Patent O 3,270,519 ICE MAKER WlTH DR MOUNTED DRIVE MEANS Ernest E. Pohl, Jr., Dayton, Ghio, assigner to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 1, 1964, Ser. lvm/415,069 4 Claims. (Cl. 62-353) This invention pertains to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to liquid freezers for household refrigerators.

There appears to be an increasing demand for liquid freezers incorporated in household refrigerators. However these add to the refrigerating load of the refrigerator and also occupy useful space. Of necessity the freezing mold must be in the freezing compartment. But it is not necessary that the drive mechanism be in the freezing compartment taking up useful storage space and giving olf heat which adds to the refrigeration load. However it is desirable tha-t the drive and control mechanism be accessible from the front of the refrigerator.

It is an object of this invention to combine a household refrigerator with a liquid freezer in which the drive mechanism for the liquid freezer is located outside of the freezing compartment such as in the insulation means adjacent the outer Wall and adjacent the front of the freezer so that the waste heat escapes from the outer wall directly into the surrounding atmosphere without owing into the compartment to be cooled or in the compressor cornpartment where the heat is dissipated to the environmental air without taking up useful storage space at the front of the refrigerator.

It is another object of this invention to provide a combination of a household refrigerator with a liquid freezer in which the drive mechanism is located in the insulation means adjacent to the outer wall of the door so that the waste heat is dissipated from the outer door surface without taking up useful storage space at the front of the cabinet.

These and-other objects are attained in the forms shown in the drawings in which an elongated, twistable, exible freezing mold -is located in a freezing compartment of a household refrigerator which is maintained at temperatures well below the freezing temperature of the liquid to be frozen. The liquid to be frozen is introduced into the mold through a suitable supply pipe under the control of suitable valves. An automatic drive mechanism is provided for controlling the liquid supply to the mold and for turning and twisting the mold when the liquid is frozen to eject the frozen liquid from the mold into a suitable storage bin.

In one form of this invention, the drive mechanism is housed within the door of the freezing compartment adjacent the outer wall so that any heat dissipated therefrom will be dissipated to the outer wall rather than to the freezing compartment. A detachable connection is provided between the drive mechanism and the mold which is connected when the door is closed and disconnected when the door is open. In a second form of the invention the drive mechanism is located in the insulation space of the sidewall against the outer wall thereof and connected through a flexible shaft with the front of the mold.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the freezing compartment of a household refrigerator cabinet emice bodying an automatic liquid freezer illustrating one form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a top horizontal sectional view taken along the lines 2 2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the disconnection of the drive mechanism with the mold upon the opening of the door;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the freezing compartment of a household refrigerator illustrating an automatic liquid freezer embodying a second form of the invention in which the drive mechanism is located in the sidewall; and

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 5 5 of FIG. 4.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a household refrigerator 20 of the frost-free type having a freezing compartment 22 closed at the front by an insulated door 24. The compartment 22 is surrounded by insulated walls 26 at the top, sides, rear and bottom. The compartment 22 is cooled below the temperature of the liquid to be frozen such as water by a refrigerant evaporator 28 located beneath the false bottom wall 30. This evaporator 28 has a suction line connection 32 with the sealed motor compressor unit 34 having its outlet connected to the condenser 36 from which liquid refrigerant flows through the capillary liquid supply tube 38 to the entrance of the evaporator 28. Air is drawn from the compartment 22 through the entrance 4G of the chamber 42 beneath the false bottom wall 30 and through the evaporator 28 by a centrifugal fan 44 driven by an electric motor 46 which discharges the cold air upwardly through a duct 48 and discharges the cold air forwardly through the opening 50 beneath a fast freezing shelf 51 and over the liquid freezer S2.

rfhe liquid freezer 52 includes a supporting frame 54 having a pivot pin 56 at the rear which pivotally supports a bracket 58 connected to the rear end of an elongated, twistable, ilexible freezing mold or tray 60 containing a plurality of ice cube pockets which are adapted to freeze liquid therein. The front end of the mold 60 is fastened to a front bracket 62 which is fixed to a pivot pin 64 rotatably mounted on the front of the frame 54 and held in place by the ring 66 within an aperture in the frame. According to the first form of my invention, the drive mechanism 72 is located in the insulation space 68 of the door 24 against the outer `sheet metal wall .70. This drive mechanism 72 may include an electrical drive motor and operating means for rotating a square drive pin 74 adapted to make direct connection with a square recess 76 in the pin 64. The -pin 64 has an external ange at the front resting against the frame 54 which takes any thrust provided with the engagement of the shaft 74 with the recess 76.

The drive mechanism may include an electric drive mo-tor such as the electric drive motor 29 shown in Patent No. 3,071,933 issued January 8, 1963, as well as a cam such as the cam 34 shown in said patent and suitable switch devices such as the switch 31 shown in said patent. However, any other suitable motor drive unit may be used, if desired. The mold 60 is initially filled through a supply pipe 78 under the control of a pressure control valve 80 and a solenoid valve 82 which discharges through the delivery pipe 84 extending through the insulating walls to a discharge spout 86 which discharges the water or other liquid into the mold 60. The aforesaid cam and switch means shown in said patent control the solenoid valve 82 to deliver the proper quantity of liquid to be frozen to the mold 60 at the proper time. At the end of the freezing period under the control of a freezing thermostat such as the thermostat 35 shown in said patent, the mold 60 is twisted and turned to eject the frozen cubes from the pockets of the mold 60 into the collecting bin or drawer 88 directly beneath.

The drive mechanism 72 is insulated from the freezing compartment 22 by an insulating wall portion 90. This insulation prevents the heat from the electric motor from being dissipated into the compartment 22 to be cooled and favors the dissipation of the heat from the drive mechanism to the outer wall 70 of the door 24. This outward heat flow makes it unnecessary that the refrigerating system carry the added heat load provided by the drive mechanism 72. The projecting drive pin 74 is covered when the door 24 is opened by a suitable outwardly springing elastic bellows 92 of a rubber-like material having one end thereof provided with a fastening rim 94 which fastens to the edge of an aperture in the inner wall 96 of the door 24. The bellows 92 also has an opening at the end 98 through which the square drive pin or shaft 74 of the drive mechanism 72 projects into the socket 76 of the pin 64. The bellows 92 there fore serves as a guard to prevent accidental contact with the drive pin or shaft 74 when the door 24 is opened as illustrated in FIG. 3. By locating the drive mechanism 72 in the door, it is readily accessible for repair or replacement in the event of any failure thereof. It also occupies no useful storage space in the compartment 22 and dissipates its heat through the outer wall 70 of the door 24.

The second form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 in which a similar liquid supply provided with the same reference characters is provided. Also a similar cooling system is provided for the compartment 22. The :frame 54 and the mold 60 as Well as the collecting bin 88 are likewise the same. The difference is in the location of the drive mechanism 130 which is located in the insulation space 132 at the front of the sidewall 134 of the refrigerator cabinet. Preferably the drive mechanism 130 is located against the outer wall 136 of the sidewall 134. It is preferably shielded from the compartment 22 by a suitable insulating wall 133. With this arrangement the door 140 is conventional and is provided with storage shelves 141 and with the conventional door seal 142 making contact with the front surface 144 of the sidewall 134 in front of the drive mechanism 130.

According to this second form of the invention the drive pin 146 of the drive mechanism 130 connects through a iiexible shaft housed in the sleeve 148 with the pin 64 which is rotatably mounted in the front of the frame 54 in the same manner as in FIGS. 1 to 3. In the same manner as described previously, the drive mechanism 130 controls the discharge of the liquid to be frozen into the mold 60 and the twisting and turning of the mold 60 at the proper time to discharge the frozen cubes or pellets into the collecting bin 88. In this second form of the invention the heat from the drive mechanism is dissipated through the outer sidewall 136 and is shielded from the compartment 22 by the insulating wall 138. In this form likewise, the drive mechanism is accessible at the front of the refrigerator and does not occupy useful storage space in the compartment 22. lf desired, the drive mechanism 130 could be located in the compressor compartment where it would also be readily accessible. The flexible shaft housed in the sleeve 148 would be continued through the insulation to the drive mechanism 130 so located in the compressor compartment.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator including insulated Walls and a door enclosing a compartment to be cooled, a mold located in said compartment, means for delivering liquid to be frozen to said mold, means for cooling the liquid in said mold below its freezing point, said mold having a front located adjacent the front of said compartment and a rear located adjacent the rear of said compartment, an electric drive motor and operating means driven by said motor fitted in and mounted on and bodily movable with said door, said operating means having a disconnectible mechanical connection with the front of said mold for twisting said mold for ejecting the frozen liquid from said mold, said connection being disconnected when the door is open and connected when the door is closed.

2. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the door has an insulating wall portion insulating the drive motor from said compartment.

3. A refrigerator as definedI in claim 1 in which the door has a flexible expansible guard which expands to surround and guard said mechanical connection when the door is open.

4. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the front of said mold is provided with and connected to a stub shaft, a bearing for said stub shaft, said mechanical connection forming a detachable interengaging connection with said stub shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,843,005 1/ 1932 Steenstrup 62-449 X 2,278,229 3/ 1942 Whitaker 62-301 2,289,601 7/ 1942 Storer 62-300 2,407,058 9/ 1946 Clum 62-344 X 2,785,539 3/1957 Simmons et al. 62-353 X 2,943,456 7/ 1960 Lee 62-344 X ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A REFRIGERATOR INCLUDING INSULATED WALLS AND A DOOR ENCLOSING A COMPARTMENT TO BE COOLED, A MOLD LOCATED IN SAID COMPARTMENT, MEANS FOR DELIVERING LIQUID TO BE FROZEN TO SAID MOLD, MEANS FOR COOLING THE LIQUID IN SAID MOLD BELOW IS FREEZING POINT, SAID MOLD HAVING A FRONT LOCATED ADJACENT THE FRONT OF SAID COMPARTMENT AND AN REAR LOCATED ADJACENT THE REAR OF SAID COMPARTMENT, AN ELECTRIC DRIVE MOTOR AND OPERATING MEANS DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR FITTED IN AND MOUNTED ON AND BODILY MOVABLE WITH SAID DOOR, SAID OPERATING MEANS HAVNG A DISCONNECTIBLE MECHANICAL CONNECTION WITH THE FRONT OF SAID MOLD FOR 